ELLE EDITORS’ WEDDING DIARIES

I DIDN’T LET ANYTHING “CRIMP” MY SIMPLE WEDDING STYLE We got married on the beach in front of the tiny A-frame cabin we lived in on Vancouver Island. A few months before our August wedding, we planted flowers around our deck. The night before the wedding, I remember watering them and thinking they were perfect. Turns out the deer who frequented our property felt the same way. The he next morning, I woke up and found our garden had been devoured. With $50 in my pocket, I drove to a nearby organic farm where they sold bouquets of wildflowers. I told the woman my story, and she filled my car with the most exquisite collection of colourful blooms. For our honeymoon, we drove down the Oregon and California coastline. We mostly camped, but my brother gifted us with a stay at Deetjen’s Big Sur Inn. With its storied and romantic history, it was the perfect setting. Beauty advice: Don’t try a hairstyle that you’d never consider wearing in your everyday life. #crimpedhair #whatwasIthinking? I STAYED SOBER AT THE BIGGEST PARTY OF MY LIFE I love wine. And not in a“a “Sure, I could do white” kind of way. Mine’s more of a ““No joy cometh like a frosted glass of Marlborough at the end of a stressful work week” adoration. But at my wedding, although I made sure there was an impressive wine list and a fully stocked bar, I steered clear. I came to that verdict after witnessing photos of a family friend at her own wedding: makeup smeared, stomach ballooned from carby beer (compounded by a drop-waist dress), body drunkenly slumped against walls, C-list celeb-like. I decided right then and there that I wanted to remember every last beautiful detail of my wedding day—to be in a haze of emotional exuberance, not tequila.

So I toasted with sparkling water and teensy sips of champagne and passed on the many rounds of shots that were offered. And at last call, when guests were piling into shuttle buses en route to the afterparty, I propped my elbows on the bar and ordered an icy glass of New Zealand’s Oyster Bay Sauvignon Blanc. I toasted my new husband twice (he was double-fisting some local lager) and reflected, soberly, on an unforgettable night. Then I promptly fantasized over how booze-fuelled my beachy honeymoon would be. KATHERINE FLEMMING, HEALTH & BEAUTY EDITOR

NOREEN FLANAGAN, EDITOR-IN-CHIEF